The top post at the online forum TheDonald on Wednesday morning was titled “Fuck Mike Pence. 🖕🏻🖕🏻🖕🏻.” And chilling calls for violence against the former vice president were rising to the top of the comments thread.
Pence plays a starring role in the new indictment of Donald Trump, which quotes Trump telling Pence, “You’re too honest” after the vice president refused to block certification of Joe Biden’s presidential win.
And Pence met the news of the indictment with harsh criticism of Trump, now a rival for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination. Pence tweeted that “anyone who puts himself over the Constitution should never be President of the United States.”
Special prosecutor Jack Smith’s indictment also recalls how Trump, unable to convince Pence to become a co-conspirator in his despotic plot to steal the presidency, instead unleashed a mob of MAGA supporters against him. “At the Capitol,” the court document reads, “members of the crowd chanted, ‘Hang Mike Pence!’; ‘Where is Pence? Bring him out!’; and ‘Traitor Pence!’”
Such dark sentiments against Pence now have been revived, at an online forum that played a key role for plotters of the unrest of Jan. 6. TheDonald is a Reddit like forum for the Trumpiest of the Trump faithful. Both individual posts, and the comments on them, rise based on the “upvoting” of users, giving a glimpse into the collective psyche of the community.
The top comment on the Pence post called for divine retribution against the “traitor.” It reads: “May GOD Strike him down for his lies and treachery to the American People.” But as other commenters piled on, they fantasized about a public execution of Pence at a gallows. “I want to watch his toes dangle in the breeze,” wrote user BigMikesHairyDong.
“I want to stand beside you as witness,” wrote user Totally_Passable adding, “I want to pull the lever.” This user made clear he didn’t want the violence to end with Pence: “I long for the day we the people pull these traitors… out of their seats screaming, knowing full well what is coming to them, and why its coming.”
Instead of recoiling at the call to execute Pence, other users joined the call for mob violence. “No long drops,” said another user, echoing many of the replies. “Humane execution should be off the table.”
I wonder if Russian propaganda isn't also trying to kick it into overdrive. Getting Trump back into the White House would likely give them a HUGE boost if the US were to suddenly stop supplying weapons and aid to the Ukrainians, the Russians are likely desperately holding out hope for a Trump rebound and trying to push the idea that he can take back the White House.
The Russian angle is the only plausible shadow factor. It's almost transparent if you're being honest with yourself.
There is many other countries that have an interest in the US being run by an easily manipulated and blackmailed baffoon, that is happily toring down the institutions, that keep the country running. In the same wake there is plenty of billionaires that are eager to increase robbing the people until the breaking point is reached and then fuck off to some island or so.
That's exactly what Putin is doing. Hopefully this gets us time to register voters and prepare for 2024.
He would pressure Ukraine into surrendering to Russia and his supporters would call Ukraine greedy for "Not taking the deal"
"Why can't the Ukrainians just leave the Russians alone? They've killed hundreds of thousands of Russians so far, why are we supporting these genocidal maniacs!?"
It's not far from that, actually. I remember the Washington DC sub had people in there that claimed to be in favor of complete peace and Ukraine should have just left Russia take it over, because that would have been the most peaceful solution.